The Swimming and Sports Centre will be available to sports clubs and associations, two schools and private individuals. On weekdays, the main users of the Centre will be schoolchildren and ageing residents. Current expectations are for the swimming centre to see 400,000 annual customers and for the sports halls to have over 300,000. The centre will be at Hampurinkuja 4.
—It has been decades since Helsinki has built a new, large swimming and sports centre. We are listening to the future users in the plans and designs of the facility, says project manager Robert Hanson.
—There are only a few swimming centres in Helsinki with a 50-metre main pool. For the city to respond to a growing need for services, the Culture and Leisure Committee has decided that the main pool at Jätkäsaari should be made larger than what had previously been planned. We will also strive to provide a little bit more fun and attraction in the smaller pools to encourage people of all ages to learn to swim. There are also other ideas that we’re looking into. For instance, we are considering, in addition to traditional saunas, an open sauna where entire families, for example, can sweat it out together. We are also planning an outdoor sports area.
Tarja Loikkanen, Sports Director of the City of Helsinki, considers the future swimming and sports centre a significant investment in the ability of Helsinki residents to pursue sports and physical activity.
—When completed, the Jätkäsaari Swimming and Sports Centre will offer a wealth of services to different target groups. Southern Helsinki will receive a longed- for, comprehensive new swimming and sports centre with large facilities for different types of sports and physical activity, says Loikkanen.
The building will be erected in a prominent location to be a landmark in the area. For this reason, the exterior architecture is of a high quality and in a scale that suits a public building. The swimming centre will be built in the concrete building’s basement and a brick layer is being planned for the building’s facade. The upper floor structure will be built of wood and house indoor sports facilities and a terrace. Its customer café will be situated in the entrance hall, on the Tyynenmerenkatu side.
Over the course of the planning process, we will study alternate ways to boost the facility’s environmental friendliness. In addition to the wood construction, we aim to promote the recycling of building parts wherever it is safe and durable.
The aim is to start construction in 2026
Planning for the Jätkäsaari Swimming and Sports Centre proceeds. The Helsinki City Council will process the project plan in late spring 2025. After this process, the plans will be further revised. The implementer will be included in the common development stage of the project, which is estimated to last until summer 2026. Once that stage is completed, we expect to start the construction. Current estimates show that the sports facility will be open to users in 2029.
PES-Arkkitehdit Oy is responsible for the primary and architectural design of the building during the project planning phase. The search for the project contractor has begun, and the choice will be made in 2025.
Two-stage demolition of the Jätkäsaari Bunker makes room for the Sports Centre – break in the demolition scheduled for spring
Demolition of the Bunker began in spring 2024 and the heavy demolition started in late summer 2024. The first stage of the demolition work is estimated to be completed in February–March 2025, which will mark a break in the demolition process. This is the first stage, during which two-thirds of the building will be demolished.
The lower floors and underground structures of the building will de demolished once the planning for the Jätkäsaari Swimming and Sports Centre has progressed to a later stage. Currently, demolition work is expected to resume in summer 2025. The schedule will be confirmed later.
